Air cleaner



Jan. l9, 1932. J. B. COULTER AIR CLEANER Filed Jan. 29, 1951 INVENTOR J3 Goalie r WITN ESS ATTQRNEY Patented Jan. 19, 1932 PATENT OFFICE I JOSEPH B. COUL'IEB, F MISSION, TEXAS Am 'cnmnna Application filed January 29, 1931. Serial 1W0. 512,164.

This invention relates to air cleaning devices or filters of that class in which the air is driven or sucked through the device and during its passage is purified by suitable [6' cleansing material therein contained.

, A primary object-of the invention is toso construct such a cleaner that themotor in connection "with which itais' used may be continuously operated for an indefinite period without necessitating stopping of the motor to clean the filter.

Another object is to construct a cleaner of this character having a plurality of air cleansing and supply units so controlled that when one is in use for supplying purified air to the engine the other is being cleaned ready for use when necessary;

Another object is to so construct a cleaner of this character that its eificiency will be maintained substantially throughout the entire period that the motor is operating. I

In carrying out these objects, the invention is susceptible of a wide range of modification without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the claimed invention; there being shown in the drawings 'for illustrative purposes a preferred and practical form, in which:

Figure 1 represents a top plan view of the cleaner constituting this invention with the air supply pipe shown in horizontal section;

Fig. 2 is a transverse section taken on the 1: line 22 of Fig. 3; and

' any, suitable form and dimensions.

of these casings is composed of an upper secablyi mounted in the lower end of the unit being shown secured thereto for the connection and disconnection of the Fig; 3 is a side elevation of a cleaner with one of the "units shown in vertical section, also the air supply pipe leading thereto.

In the embodiment-illustrated two casings or housings 1 and 2 are provided which are exactly alike in construction and may lie of:

tion 3 and a. lower section 4 having 'outturned flanges or apertured ears 5 and 6, the

ears 6 on the upper section 3 overlying those on the lower section 2'and whichare designed to be bolted together by bolts 7 to provide sections for insertion of theinterior contents.

I v The chamber 2 is closed at its bottom and also at its top, the top 8 having an upstandlng cylindrical pipe 9 which communicates with the mouth 21 of a filter cell or unit 20.

Extending laterally from the upstanding pipe 9 and communicating therewith is a branch pipe 10. The two pipes 10 of the units 1 and 2 converge and merge into a single pipe 11 which is designed to be connected in any suitable manner with the air inlet pipe of an engine carbureter.

A Y-shaped air'inlet pipe 15 has its arms 16 and 17 opening through the top 8 of the casings 1 and 2 and discharging thereinto. Arranged at the junction of. the arms 16 and 17 is a valve 18 having a handle 19 extending through one side wall thereof and adapted to be manipulated for opening and closing the valve 18 to control the branch pipes lfiand 1'? and bring them as desired into communication with the outside atmosphere for supplying air or cutting it 0E from the casings 1' or 2. This handle 19 may be extendedor located in any convenient position for actuation by the operator for cutting off either of the units 1 or 2 as may be desired.

The filter cell or unit 20 consists of a'holder or container for a suitable filtering medium.

indicated at 22. This unit 20 has the side walls thereof spaced laterally from-the side walls of the chamber or casing 2 in which it .is mounted to provide between them an air space 23 which terminates below the bottom of the container 20 when the latter is in elevated operative position and above the fluid level 24 of the casing 2. It is to be understood that filter cleaning fluid is designed to be contained in the bottom portion of the casing- 2 into which the filter unit 20 is desi ed to be submerged for cleaning of the tering material 22 when desired as will be presently more fullybdescribed.

The bottom25 of the filter cell 20 is detachby oppositely disposed thumb screws-26. This bottom 25 is composed of reticulated orperforate material 27 reinforced by cross bars 28 which inter-' sect each other at the'center of the cell 20 and are apertured at their points of. intersection for-the passage therethrough ot a plunger rod 30. The lower end of this plunger rod 30 is loosely connected with an eye bolt 31 which extends through the slots in the cross bars 28 and is connected by a nut 32 with the apex of a spiral spring 33 arranged between the filter 20 and the bottom of the casing 2 as is shown clearly in Fig. 3.

A foraminous cap member 34 is arranged over the filtering material in the unit 20 to hold said material in operative position and prevent its bulging out through the mouth 21 of the unit. The plunger rod 30 which extends through the upper end of the pipe 9 with a fluid tight packing 35 arranged around it is provided at its upper end with a hand or foot grip 36 by means of which the plunger is manipulated to depress the unit 20 against the tension of the spring 33 into the cleansing liquid in the bottom of the casing 2 when it is found necessary to clean the filtering material.

Arranged in the air space 23 between the filtering unit '20 and the casing 2 is a spiral plate or strip 29 which forms not only a guide and distributor for the air entering through pipe 17 but also operates as a guide for the unit 20 in its reciprocatory movement and as a bafiie to prevent the air from passing back through the pipe 15.

In the use of this device when the pipe 11 has been properly connected with the air intake of the carbureter, not shown, the valve 18 is swung to bring into communication with the carburetor either the unit 1 or 2 at the will of the operator andwhen arranged as shown in Fig. 3 unit 2 will be in communicationand the air drawn by suction of the carbureter and engine through pipes 15 and 17 enters the air space 23, passes down and up through the filtering material 22 out through the mouth of the unit 20 and throughpipe. 9 to the branch pipe 10 to pipe 11 of the carbureter. This passage of the air thoroughly cleanses itfrom any foreign -particles thus spring 33 operates to return the unit 20 into normal position ready for use and then all that is necessary is to shift the valve 18 to bring the cleaned unit into operation for puri fying the air to be used.

By making the bottom 25 removable the contents of the cell 20 may be removed and cleansed and returned to operative position or a new filtering material put in its place.

By the use of the two filtering units or cas ings 1 and 2 the motor may be continuously operated for a period of ten hours or more depending upon conditions without necessitating stoppage of the motor for cleaning the air cleaner.

The efiiciency of this air cleaner remains almost the same during the entire period in which the motor is operating. When the valve 18 is turned in either one direction or the other it completely eliminates one unit at which time the plunger rod may be depressed submerging the entireinner chamber into the oil for the purpose of cleaning it and thus a clean unit is always presented during the operation of the motor.

Without further description it is thought that the features and advantages of the in vention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and it will, of course, be understood that changes in the form, proportion and minor details of construction may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit of the invention or its scope as claimed. I

I claim:

1. An apparatus for cleaning air and other gases comprising two casings, each having a liquid holding reservoir in its lower portion and a gas inlet and outlet in spaced relation above said reservoir, a filter unit in each casing movable from the reservoir to a gas filtering position, said unit having a closed top with a mouth registering with the gas outlet when in operative filtering position, and an open bottom for the passage of gas admitted through said inlet, a Y-shaped gas supply pipe having its arms connected with the inlets of said ca'sings'and its stem open to the atmosphere, a valve at the junction of said arms to cut ofi? one or the other from the stem, and means for depressing one of said filtering units when the other is in operative osition. Y

2. n apparatus for'cleaning air and othe gases comprising two casings, each having a liquid holding reservoir'in its lower portion and a gas inlet and outlet in spaced relation above said reservoir, a filter unit in each casing movable from the reservoir to a gas.

filtering position, said unit having a closed top witha mouth registering with the gas outlet when in operative filtering position, and an open bottom for the passage of gas admitted through said inlet, a Y-shaped gas supply pipe having its arms connected with the inlets of said casings and its stem open to the atmosphere, a valve at the junction of said arms to cut of one or the other from the stem, means for depressing one of said filtering units when the other is in operative position, and means for returning said units to Operative position when released.

3. In an apparatus for cleaning air and other gases, two closed casings, each having a liquid holding reservoir in its lower por tion and a gas inlet and outlet in spaced relation above said reservoir, a reciprocable filter unit in each casing, resilient means for holding said unit normally in raised filtering position, said unit being closed except at its top and bottom, the top having a mouth registering with the gas outlet when the unit is in'raised operative position, means for directing the gas admitted through said inlet to the bottom of said unit to cause it to pass upward through the filtering material therein, a plunger connected to depress said unit into the liquid reservoir, a spring for returning said unit to normal osition when released, and means under t e control of the operator for placing one casing in operative position while the other is cut out.

4. In an apparatus for cleaning air and other gases, two closed casings, each having a liquid holding reservoir in its lower por- A tion and a' gas inlet and outlet in spaced relation above said reservoir, a reciprocable filter unit in each casing, resilient means for holding said unit normally in raised filtering position, said unit being closed except at its top and bottom, the top having a mouth registering with the outlet when the unit is in raised operative position, a spiral strip arranged between said filtering unit and the walls of said casing forming a guide for the units when reciprocated and operating as a bafiie to prevent the return of the gas admitted, and also operating to direct the air into the filter.

JOSEPH B. COULTER. 

